Feds ask for 90-day delay in lawmaker probe of Quinn grants

SPRINGFIELD — Federal authorities investigating Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s $54.5 million anti-violence grant program on Wednesday asked state lawmakers doing their own probe to hold off 90 days — a request that’s likely to be granted.

In the short term, the move takes the air out of a potentially explosive legislative hearing scheduled for next week in which several former Quinn aides who ran or worked on the program had been summoned to testify. In the long term, a delay means the issue would continue to be in the spotlight as the governor prepares to ask voters for another term on Nov. 4. The 90-day window would expire during the closing weeks of Quinn’s campaign against Republican challenger Bruce Rauner.

The request made by the U.S. Department of Justice came days after the Tribune revealed that a federal grand jury in Springfield had subpoenaed emails of some of the same key former Quinn administration officials that lawmakers had asked to testify at next week’s hearing about a program hobbled by a quick launch, poor oversight and questionable spending.

Quinn launched his Neighborhood Recovery Initiative four years ago as he faced a tough election battle. It was a decision that drew cries then and now from Republicans that it was a “slush fund” to gin up Democratic votes in Chicago and the south suburbs. Quinn has denied politics was the motive, saying a spate of high-profile crime made it necessary to take action.

The program came under renewed focus after Auditor General William Holland released a scathing audit in late February. Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez and federal prosecutors have delved into the alleged misspending. The bipartisan Legislative Audit Commission held high-profile hearings in May and June and were poised to continue them.

Republican Sen. Jason Barickman, who co-chairs the state panel, issued a statement Wednesday saying that the U.S. Department of Justice requested that “no interviews of those connected” to the program should conducted for 90 days.

“We do not want to impede their efforts or compromise the integrity of their criminal investigation,” said Barickman. Without revealing specifics, Barickman said the request came from two staff attorneys and an intern who worked for the legislative affairs office of the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.

The lawmaker from Bloomington added that it is “appropriate … to consider the request and its scope,” but he left hanging the question of what, if anything, the commission would do next and when.

Democratic Sen. John Mulroe, a former Cook County prosecutor and certified public accountant, said the legislative panel should honor the federal request.

“We’re not prosecutors, we’re not auditors, we’re lawmakers,” Mulroe said. “One of the things I’m concerned about is expanding our scope, but also interfering with the investigation that’s being conducted by the federal authorities and the Cook County state’s attorney too.”

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment about the request.

Last month, a panel of lawmakers voted to subpoena seven people to testify about the findings in Holland’s audit. Among them were Barbara Shaw, the former head of the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority; Toni Irving, a former deputy chief of staff; and Malcolm Weems, a former director of the Department of Central Management Services and member of the governor’s budget office. All three also were named on the federal grand jury subpoena about the emails.

The May 13 federal request sought emails dating back to the beginning of 2010, the year Quinn ran for his first full term as governor and launched the Chicago-area program in the final weeks of his campaign. Quinn has ordered agencies to cooperate.

Illinois lawmakers have some experience with addressing federal and state probes unfolding at the same time. In 2006, federal prosecutors in Chicago asked Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to allow a U.S. probe to go unimpeded when they both had ongoing investigations into Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration. The federal government also set strict limits on what it would say about its charges against Blagojevich once House lawmakers began impeachment proceedings following his December 2008 arrest.

Coverage of the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, an anti-violence program that was pushed by Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn as he sought re-election in 2010. New subpoena in federal probe of Quinn anti-violence grant program A new subpoena seeking records about Gov. Pat Quinn's botched 2010 anti-violence...

SPRINGFIELD — A state audit released today criticizes the spending and management practices of a $55 million, taxpayer-funded anti-violence program for Chicago and Cook County that Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn launched in 2010 as he was engaged in a tough election campaign.

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Pat Quinn today defended his $55 million anti-violence program now under scrutiny by a Cook County grand jury, saying he is not going to turn his back from public safety needs in Chicago and other urban areas.